User blog:Olivier Baghdadi/Pleasure Island
Recently, having remembered Disney's Pinocchio, which I haven't seen in years, I've thought of a DuckTales episode that spoofs the movie, mainly the elements involving Pleasure Island mostly and Monstro. One day, the Duck boys are having fun at their most favorite place in the world, Funso's, but eventually, they become bored with having to do the same thing they've been doing at that place for the past 11 years and wish they could have a different kind of fun. Then, a stranger in fancy clothes approaches them, offering them free invitations and the chance of a lifetime of fun at his amusement theme park on an island he runs called Pleasure Island. At first, the boys hesitate but then, they agree on condition that they ask for their mother and Uncle Donald's permission first if they can go. Back home, with Scrooge out on business elsewhere while Mrs. Beakley and Webby are busy practicing fighting techniques and Launchpad's busy lazing around all day, the boys approach their mom and Uncle Donald and ask for their permission, to which the two surprisingly accept without hesitation. So, the boys pack up a few things, hug and kiss their elders good-bye, and head to the docks where a ferry lies waiting to take them and all the other boys to the island. After a long hour journey, the boys finally reach the island where they proceed to have all the fun they want up to a point where it somehow gets a little extreme when it comes to smoking, drinking alcohol, fighting, wrecking the place, and other deeds that good children wouldn't do without even knowing it. Later, at night, back home, Scrooge returns and is welcomed back with open arms by most of his family. When Scrooge asks of the boys' whereabouts, the Duck twins reveal that they took a trip to Pleasure Island for a chance to have some real fun for a few days. Scrooge is reassured until he suddenly freaks out, panics, and asks about the island's name again. Rushing out with his nephew and niece without hesitation with no time to waste after learning the island's name again, Scrooge orders Donald to take his boat back to the docks in order for them to retrieve the boys as soon as possible but the boat seems to be under heavy repair, as does the Sunchaser/Cloudslayer due to Launchpad's clumsiness. So, Scrooge has Launchpad drive them to the docks in his car while asking him, Beakley, and Webby to stay behind no matter what and rents the most rundown yet cheapest boat he can afford with Donald taking the wheel. Puzzled, confused, curious, and somehow concerned with Scrooge's apparent behavior, the Duck twins proceed to ask him what's going on but he simply replies that the less they know, the better and that the boys' safe return is all that matters. However, during their journey, they find themselves suddenly attacked by a sea monster. Back on the island, the population appears to be diminishing and the boys, who seem rather concerned and suspicious about the others' strange absences, are becoming less amused and more bored with their new fun and no matter how hard they try to leave, the owner's minions continue to provide them with all kinds of distractions to keep them from leaving until suddenly, in one of the attractions, they accidentally come across a talking donkey. Afraid of the upcoming consequences due to talking to boys, the talking donkey wastes no time talking to them and simply warns them to leave while they still have a chance unless they want to suffer the same fate as he did. Horrified by this revelation and its results, the Duck boys try in vain to convince the others to stop but fail and at the same time, they start to grow donkey ears and tails each, realizing what kind of fate the talking donkey was warning them about. But then, they unfortunately find themselves being chased by the owner's men. Luckily, using their know-how, gusto, and ability to read situations and see all the angles that no one else can, the boys manage to outsmart and outrun their pursuers and escape the island in a rowboat. Later, the boys finally make it back to Duckburg safe and sound. Realizing they can't be seen with their new looks in public, the boys try to conceal them until they reach home to ask Scrooge for any remedy to their undeserved fate. When they finally reach McDuck Manor, they learn from Mrs. Beakley through the mansion's buzzer system about Scrooge, Donald, and Della having left to find them. Rather than to stay and wait for their return as suggested by Beakley, the boys decide to go after them and find them but not before sneaking back into the mansion and grabbing a few things they might need along the way from Donald's boat including a set of diving suits made especially for the boys on their next adventure that may take them to the bottom of the sea. Then, in the morning, they return to the docks and use the same rowboat again to go after their elders in the open sea. During their search, after what seems like forever, Dewey and Louie decide to dive underwater while Huey stays on board. Meanwhile, Scrooge and the Duck twins are revealed to have survived the attack despite having been swallowed whole by the sea monster along with their boat rental. Then, they begin to worry that they might never see their kids again, starve to death, or never get out as well for all that matters. Nevertheless, they never give up hope or faith as they point out what such good boys their kids really were. Later, the monster awakens and proceeds to devour a school of fish headed its way. Overjoyed that they don't have to worry about starving to death any longer when they see the amount of fish coming in, Scrooge begins fishing without hesitation while Della keeps the fish at bay in the trunk and Donald steers the ship to safety. Meanwhile, all seems quiet underwater until the boys find themselves being chased by the same sea monster devouring fish in its path and finally swallowed whole as well. At last, after slight confusion, the family is happily reunited once again. However, Scrooge and the others' happiness turns to shock when they discover the boys' ears and tails after removing a few things off of them in order to dry them up. When Della wonders what they had done to themselves while Donald faints momentarily, Scrooge intervenes when he points out that it's not so much as what they did to themselves but what the island itself did to them. Donald, having regained consciousness, and Della force Scrooge to tell them the truth once and for all. Finding himself having no other choice now that part of the results are out, Scrooge reluctantly proceeds to tell them the truth. He reveals that back in his youth, still living in Scotland, he was also in fact, approached by the same owner that lured the boys to Pleasure Island in the first place where he was promised a lifetime chance of fun along with some other boys as well. Foolishly, like any other boy, young Scrooge accepted and was brought to the island to have the best fun of his life, but when he was accidentally approached by a talking donkey in one of the attractions, he learned that the latter was once a boy who was also one of the few duped by the owner into coming to the island where he could have fun, unaware of the price he and all the other boys before him had to pay for it. It was further revealed that the island actually had a curse on it: the more boys would have fun up to a point where they would do extremely dangerous stunts and misdeeds, the more they would lose their will of human goodness and willpower without knowing it or ever wanting to leave again, which would eventually lead to a fate worse than death where the victims suddenly found themselves literally making "jackasses" of themselves. And once the transformation was complete, they could never return to their true forms ever again, then, they would be put in crates and sold to salt mines, circuses, and other places for money by the owner and his men. However, in some cases, if the victims still had the ability to talk, they would be locked inside pens until they lose their voices or were simply used as the park's newest attractions on condition that they don't breathe a word unless they wanted to later find themselves whipped and further mistreated and abused by their captors. Luckily, Scrooge was among the only one to actually escape without having been affected by its curse and never return to the island again. And knowing that nobody would believe him, Scrooge chose to keep it a secret even from his own family including Donald and Della when he found himself raising them after the tragic death of their parents. Nevertheless, that didn't stop him from making sure that neither of them; especially, Donald would suffer the same fate as well, which somehow explains Scrooge's former overprotective nature on him. Over the years, he spent searching for a way to find the island in order to put a stop to its monstrosity and a possible remedy for the curse, but to no avail. Although Scrooge was lucky to learn that the owner and his men are actually demons that thrive on wealth and that the reason why such an island has never been seen by anyone else or found on any map was because the island and its inhabitants only appear for 7 days and nights every 20 years, making it accessible to children only. And should any boat carrying adults come across it by any chance, it will find itself devoured by the very creature known as the Guardian that guards the entrance from intruders and trespassers, namely, the sea monster that attacked Scrooge and the others in the first place. And when he learned that the boys were going to that same island, he knew he had take immediate action to make sure they don't suffer as well but as it seems, it was partially too late. Even more horrified by this revelation and its results, Della and Donald ask Scrooge if he knew this would happen and if there's a way to reverse this spell, to which Scrooge sadly replies: "Aye." and points out again that he hasn't been able to find a cure either unfortunately. Feeling ashamed and responsible for this mess, the boys attempt to apologize sincerely to the their Uncle Scrooge, Uncle Donald, and their mother for everything their actions had led to, try to take the blame, and state that they are more than willing to accept whatever consequences are in store for them. However, while it's true that they; especially Della, are a bit upset about all this, Della simply brushes it off while pointing out to her boys that it was neither their fault nor are they the ones to blame for all this unlike the ones who lured them into this mess in the first place. Even Scrooge is denied blame when he tries taking it for all this as well. So, Della and the others decide to put it aside and gather for a group hug since they are all together again. Later, when the boys suggest escaping, Scrooge refuses since there is no way out despite still having the rowboat the boys used to find them, stating that it's hopeless when he explains that the Guardian only opens its mouth when it's eating, leaving everything in and nothing out at all. Then, when Scrooge suggest they all have a nice, quiet fish dinner, the boys suddenly get the idea to build a huge fire strong enough to start a smoke that will cause the Guardian to sneeze, though Scrooge and Donald are hesitant due to the monster's temper while Della remains confident since she believes in her boys as she always has as they try escaping on the rowboat when the Guardian finally sneezes, sending them flying out onto the sea. After another powerful sneeze, the Guardian drinks lots of water to put out the fire and then, enraged, pursues the raft while the family row for their lives. The Guardian dives underwater and emerges underneath the rowboat; the family row away in time, but when the monster leaps after them, they are forced to jump into the sea. The monster smashes the rowboat to pieces with his tail. The boys saves Scrooge, Donald, and Della from drowning and pull them to shore, with the monster in hot pursuit. As it builds up speed, the waves drifting from the cliff of the shore hinder the boys. The Guardian leaps into the air, aiming to consume and kill them. Finally, paddling frantically, the boys swim through the hole in the cliff just as the monster crashes into it, the impact of which creates a violent wave that sends the family flying out and onto the beach. With Della slightly unconscious and dazed, Scrooge suggests Donald looks after her while he goes to look for the boys, only to find to his horror that they have been killed by the wave. Later, at night, back home, Scrooge, Donald, mostly Della, Mrs. Beakley, Webby, and Launchpad mourn for the boys' deaths. Suddenly, shimmering beams of light fall onto the boys. Everyone watches in amazement and confusion as the boys' bodies begin to float in the air and become enshrouded in surrounding fog as they begin to transform: both donkey ears and tails disappear, and return to normal. Then, the boys get up and somehow complain about the pain they endured during their last adventure. Overjoyed to see them alive, Della becomes to the first to tearfully hung and kiss each of her boys multiple times as the rest of the group rejoice, cheer over this momentous occasion, and join in the group hug as well. Wondering how all this was made possible, Scrooge simply and finally comes to the conclusion that should a boy ever regain his spark of human goodness and willpower by proving himself worthy, kind, and unselfish, then, the curse would be broken. Then, when they ask how they're going to save the other boys and make sure such evil never happens again, Scrooge asks them to trust him as he states he knows somebody who can help. Days later, the family watches as Scrooge launches a rescue mission and an attack on Pleasure Island aided by General Grimitz, all the while having brought Storkules with him as a secret weapon against the Guardian; given the hero's reputation as one of the greatest and strongest of monster conquerors despite his lower intelligence. With the children both affected and not safe on board, the island isdestroyed along with its inhabitants by the army's battleships and submarines, thus, putting an end to such horror for good. Category:Blog posts